Things I Never Told You

Ann lives alone in Portland after being left by her boyfriend. She attempts suicide and survives. She passes the time at the video shop where she has taken a job. In the same city there is a man called Don; his wife and child have gone and he volunteers on a telephone helpline. The two do not know each other and pass through the same places again and again. The subject is not love but two strangers carrying the same emptiness separately. The film does not bring them together quickly; it runs in parallel for a long time and, when the meeting comes, does not present it as rescue. The form is small-scale and cold. Portland rain, empty streets, cramped flats. Isabel Coixet avoids directly emotional scenes; the conversations break off and music rarely enters. It is the director's first film in English. Coixet is Spanish and spent much of her career shooting outside Spain in different countries; this film is regarded as the start of that route. It was released in America through independent distribution and made her name in Spain. Lili Taylor plays Ann and Andrew McCarthy plays Don, with Debi Mazar and Seymour Cassel in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet independent films built on loneliness. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for events; the film is almost entirely the daily life of two people.